Monday, May 18, 2015

Monday pythagorean - 5/18/2015

So, since they've apparently fixed the pitching that everyone was so upset about, things must be just hunky-dory right now. Right?

The Week That Was:

5/11 - Boston 5 - @Oakland 4 (11) - Rick Porcello pitches fairly well, but three times the A's take a one-run lead, and three times the Red Sox come back, twice to tie, and then to take the lead. Boston's one-run lead in the 7th also does not hold up, but Pablo Sandoval leads off the top o f the 11th with a HR and Matt Barnes completes the game, pitching the last two innings and collecting his first Major League win.

5/12 - @Oakland 9 - Boston 2 - Justin Masterson gives up 3 in the first, 1 in the second and 2 more in the third before leaving the game and heading to the disabled list with "fatigue."

5/13 - Boston 2 - @Oakland 0 - Wade Miley outpitches one of the ALs leading Cy Young candidates, Sonny Gray, and needed to, as the Red Sox only 2 runs for the second consecutive day en route to winning two of three in Oakland.

5/14 - Boston 2 - @Seattle 1 - For the third consecutive day, the Red Sox score 2 runs. For the second consecutive day, they allow fewer, and despite the excellent performance by Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes garners his second win in four days, and the second win of his career, as Boston opens the series in Seattle with a win.

5/15 - @Seattle 2 - Boston 1 - The Red Sox offensive struggles continue, as they are held under three runs for the fourth time in five games on the week. They suffer a walk-off loss in the 9th, as Nelson Cruz is pitched to by Junichi Tazawa, and Cruz wins the battle.

5/16 - Boston 4 - @Seattle 2 - With Porcello pitching very well, the Red Sox get solo HR from Pablo Sandoval and David Ortiz, and add a victory over Felix Hernandez to their west coast results.

5/17 - @Seattle 5 - Boston 0 - Steven Wright fills in for the DLed Justin Masterson and is not ineffective, allowing 3 over five innings, but the Boston bats do absolutely nothing, and they leave Seattle with a 2-2 split.

Thoughts and commentary...

The Good News - the Red Sox league ranking in runs allowed per game has almost caught up with their league ranking in runs scored per game! The Bad News - it's more because of the dismal performance of the latter than the scintillating performance of the former.

The pitching has been much improved over the past couple of weeks, but the offense has completely disappeared. They averaged 5.14 runs/game in 22 games in April. In 16 games in May, thus far, they're averaging just 2.375 runs/game. Just stunning.

While "fatigue" was the official diagnosis as Justin Masterson headed to the DL, one suspects it more on the part of John Farrell's and Ben Cherington's eyes than Masterson's arm and shoulder.

You all know that I'm not a huge fan of bashing managers for tactical decisions. And I am not a big fan of intentional walks. But giving Nelson Cruz a pitch to beat you with, with one on and two out in the bottom of the ninth of a tie game is not a smart thing to do.

Too early to pull the plug? Yes. Too early to start getting very worried? Not at all...

One suspects that young Mr. Barnes may have made his last trip on the Pawtucket shuttle for a while. It seems quite likely that he's one of the 10 best Major League pitchers in the organization right now.

Red Sox Player of the Week - In his return from the DL, Shane Victorino (.353/.421/.588/1.009, 4.23 runs created, 9.61 RC/25 outs) had a very good week. Had he not, this award would have been vacant for the week.

Red Sox Pitcher of the Week - Wade Miley went 6 1/3 scoreless in a head-to-head matchup with Sonny Gray, albeit walking the tightrope the entire way. Matt Barnes picked up his first two Major League wins with four effective innings of relief over three appearances. Koji Uehara pitched 3 2/3 hitless innings while saving 3 of the Sox 4 wins on the week. But Clay Buchholz was dominant on Friday night, giving up only 1 solo HR and two other hits, while striking out 11 and walking none. That he didn't win had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with the offense.

About Me

Native-Mainer, trapped in Massachusetts, happily-married (18 years and counting) father of four. I've got opinions. Why do you care? You probably don't. But I'm going to put some of 'em out here anyway. I've been working as a computer engineer in Massachusetts and southern NH for the last 20 years, but I'm rarely if ever going to post on any topics related to that. A lot of what I write about will be the Boston Red Sox, as well as the Patriots and Celtics. I started studying Tang Soo Do after watching my kids all do it, and I may have the occasional comment on that. And I will be commenting on political issues that interest me. Which tend to be more national in scope than local.
And whatever else strikes me.